The A&R engineers opened the realtime chart with thumping hearts.
[ TOP 100 ]
1 A.N.P – Seo Jini
2 Blue Spring – Choi Jihyun (feat. Kim Gwang-jin)
“Ah…!”
Another day, another sigh: A.N.P was still nailed to No. 1.
Inside the company, everyone had money on the board.
Who’ll reign longer, Choi Jihyun or HS?
A&R, of all teams, had backed Choi Jihyun.
At first, his solo album tracks held the upper hand.
Then the Etchis! challenge blew up across Korea and Japan; HS himself posted a clip, the fandom ballooned, and the tables flipped.
Result: A.N.P had ruled the chart a full week.
“Hey, it ain’t over till it’s over. No despair!”
“Critics are calling Blue Spring a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece!”
They tried to pep-talk one another, but their shoulders stayed heavy.
Chief engineer Gi Yeon-seon, who’d wagered his entire weekly allowance, let out a sinkhole of a sigh.
A pre-emptive excuse for the wife? he thought bleakly.
“Let’s go see HS. No, Choi Jihyun!”
“He’ll just kick us out.”
“A venti iced-americano will soften him up. Lend me cash.”
Yoon Sang-woo sighed and produced his wallet.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Gi knocked with a borrowed venti in hand.
Knock, knock, knock.
Cold sweat trickled.
“Maybe he’s not in…”
“Or he’s ignoring us.”
After all, if HS considered you a nuisance, the door stayed shut.
He silently invoked every deity he knew—Allah, Buddha, Odin, Zeus, Jade Emperor, even the three Egyptian God Cards.
Creak..
The door opened.
“What’s the occasion?” Manager Kim asked.
“We were nearby and brought Hyunseung coffee.”
Gi squeezed inside, but HS was already sipping a venti.
Late by one cup.
Only one tactic left.
“Working on anything new lately?”
He plopped onto a chair; Yoon slid onto the sofa edge.
“If I were, you’d already have the stems. Why are you here?”
“Just to say hi.”
“This isn’t a public lounge,” HS grumbled, yet accepted the coffee.
Gi dove in.
“You’ve promoted as HS. No plans to promote as Choi Jihyun?”
“Not really,” HS answered flatly.
“Then the race isn’t exactly fair, right? We need pure audio combat, and the challenge skews it.”
“True, in a way.”
Manager Kim cut in.
“Fair? HS and Jihyun are the same guy! And Jihyun’s album has a killer feature line-up. It’s built-in publicity.”
“TikTok virality beats guest lists,” Gi countered.
“If Jihyun can’t do a dance challenge…”
“Calling HS low-grade, huh?”
“No, no, never!”
HS sighed.
“Gentlemen, are we really fighting over my split-personality chart duel?”
Both men scratched their heads. The fight was over a bet.
“Manager Kim, you placed a bet, too?”
“Uh… maybe.”
“On HS, of course.”
Kim muttered, “He’s closer to my heart.”
“So you didn’t fancy Jihyun’s album?”
“Absolutely not the case!”
HS narrowed his eyes, then smiled.
“Sounds fun. Count me in.”
“Wh-what?”
Silence. Where the creator bet, the odds would swing.
He spoke:
“I put my money on Choi Jihyun.”
Manager Kim collapsed onto the sofa.
“No way…”
Right. Everyone forgets: the golden boy is a born contrarian.
Reporter Gye Jin-seong’s current itch:
Lately Gye’s radar fixated on Choi Jihyun.
Every spare minute he read articles and looped streams. He’d watched the Blue Spring MV so often he knew each frame.
The more he dug, the more confident he felt: HS and Jihyun are one.
- Same LS exclusive composer
- Same veil of mystery
- Same circle of associates
- Same freakish talent
- And that whiff of arrogance critics quoted:
“There’s hardly any competition.”
Time to cast bait.
He typed an email:
Subject: A Small Request
“Manager Kim, long time no see.
You kindly let me run HS’s exclusive interview—could you do the same for Choi Jihyun?
In return I’ll keep every hint of a connection between Choi Ji-hyeon and HS buried for good.
You know how well I keep secrets 😉”
He hit Send and grinned. Please bite again…
Good thing he’d shelved the “marijuana purchase attempt” story. It’s always handy to have a trump card.
A colleague, spying his gleam, muttered, “That mutt’s cooking trouble.”
Hyuna marched toward the café with her brother’s notebook in hand.
“Straight ahead, huh?”
A gleaming white building loomed: CHAROM.
Min-woo’s mom’s salon?
She drifted closer.
“Miss, that place is closed,” a realtor called. “Out of business. Didn’t you know?”
A ‘For Lease’ sign stared from the door.
“But they were thriving…”
“Rumor says they catered to idols, ticked off a VIP, and customers vanished overnight. Lawsuits flying and the building won’t sell. It’s sad, really.”
Hyun-ah nodded dazedly.
“VIP…?”
“Hyuna!”
Her brother appeared.
“I was almost late. What’re you doing?”
She bowed to the realtor, mulling the story.
Could Oppa…? No, impossible.
“You’ve put on weight since the breakup,” he teased. “Life’s good, huh?”
“I haul your notebook across town and you stab where it hurts?”
“Exercise will help, Ms. Chubby-Adult.”
She turned to leave.
“Hey, collect your courier fee.”
Grumbling, she held out a hand.
“Both hands, politely.”
Rolling her eyes, she complied and felt a heavy object.
“Why a car key?”
He clicked the fob.
Beep!
A Porsche SUV flashed nearby.
“Eek!”
She nearly collapsed.
“Drive it. Scratch it, we fix it. Just stay safe. Big cars make other drivers keep their distance.”
“But people will treat me differently.”
“If wealth changes their attitude, the fault’s theirs, not yours.”
Tears pricked. He ruffled her narrow shoulders.
“They already look even narrower when you slouch.”
“Excuse me, my body proportions are top tier!”
“On an alien planet, maybe.”
Laughing, the siblings headed for the new car, smiles blossoming like spring petals.
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